Good evening. Join me in Isaiah
53 again. In Luke 1, The angel Gabriel was
speaking to Mary. And he said, and behold, thy
cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age. And this is the sixth month with
her who was called barren. For with God, nothing shall be
impossible. started considering that word
barren and started considering Elizabeth, who was called barren. Think of this poor woman. All
her life, she was called barren, fruitless, lifeless, destitute. No doubt, especially as she grew
older, she cringed and had some heartache within herself when
passages such as Proverbs, her children arise and call her blessed. Or Psalm 127.3, lo, children
are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is
his reward. knowing in her heart that she
would never have a child. Then the miracle occurred. She conceived, and she found
by experience the same as her cousin Mary would soon learn,
with God nothing shall be impossible. Does that make your heart leap
just a little bit? With God, nothing shall be impossible. Can you imagine the joy Elizabeth
felt? Can you imagine how her heart
burst into song? Isaiah 54 verse 1. Sang, O barren, thou that didst
not bear, break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst
not travail with child, for more are the children of the desolate
than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. As I considered Elizabeth in
her barren state, I was once more reminded of who I am. I am like my father Adam. I'm
like my brothers and sisters who are born of Adam. I am barren. We are all naturally
barren, lifeless, fruitless, unprofitable. A young man and
a young lady get married, and they have a desire to have children. Physically fit, all is well. But if the Lord is not pleased
to give them a child, there won't be a child born. We cannot produce a child of
ourselves. Beyond the physical life, there
is one thing needful. And no one born of Adam is able
to produce life, not real life, not the life of God. We are barren. We preach the gospel. We witness,
we pray, we We have a heart desire and a yearning that the Lord
would be pleased to save our friends, our neighbors, our children,
our family, our loved ones. All of this, and yet all the
while, we confess, Lord, I am barren. I can do nothing if you
will. Would you have mercy? Would you
give life to them and to us? Sing, O barren, thou that didst
not bear. Break forth into singing and
cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child. For more
are the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the Lord. Does that seem strange? Sing,
O barren. What do you have to sing about?
You're barren. You're lifeless, fruitless, unprofitable. Singing goes with happiness,
not desolation. What is your song, O barren? Do you know the song? Elizabeth
was taught the song. She said, thus hath the Lord
dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away
my reproach among men. Said another way, said I didn't
do this. This is of him. Lord gets all
the glory in this. For every barren sinner the Lord
is pleased to have mercy upon, we will sing the same song. We will tell the same story,
and we tell it over and over again. The Lord Jesus Christ,
God Almighty, came from eternal glory. He lived as a man. perfectly in obedience to the
law. He suffered. He shed his blood. He died for my sin. He took those sins with him to
the tomb, and he left them there. He robed me in his righteousness,
and one day he's going to come back for me. to receive me that
I might be where he is. To him be all the glory, all
the majesty, all the power, forever and ever. Isaiah 53 gives us the reason
us barren are able to sing. May the Lord be pleased to reveal
his glory as we read his story and our story. This text seems to have a very special
place in our heart. Every time it's read, I'm touched
by it. We read it just Sunday evening,
and we were reminded of our lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. Somehow we can read the various
accounts of our Lord's suffering and death from the Garden of
Gethsemane to when he gave up the ghost. The actual events
that took place recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and they
don't have the awe impact that this text seems to have. And
I can only think that the only reason for that is those scriptures
don't take us step by step. You read a little here and a
little there, and you have to piece it together. But here,
in Isaiah 53, the Lord recorded for us the entire gospel from
our Lord's incarnation to his glorious victorious ascension. Isaiah 53 verse 1, who hath revealed,
believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
The law and the prophets testify of Christ. Our Lord came in the
flesh, and though he did many miracles before them, yet they
believed not on him." Why not? Why will we not believe
on him? Because we maintain that we are
not barren. Elizabeth, as a child, I'm sure
never thought she would be barren. As a young married lady, I'm
sure there's still time. There's still time. I could still bear a child. But
at last, she was made to know in herself, I am barren. I am empty. Not because somebody told her,
but because she knew. It was revealed to her. When
she was emptied, when she had nothing to look to of herself,
then at the time appointed, she conceived. As long as we sinners
have something that we look to in and of ourselves, some act,
some response, some work, that I'm able to say, really not all
that bad. We will never fall down and sue
for mercy. As long as we have some false
refuge, we reject the word of God. He declares all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? To all those sovereignly, lovingly
elected and chosen by God, who also declared, I will be gracious,
to whom I will be gracious. Verse two, for he, our Lord Jesus
Christ, the son of God, For he shall grow up before him. I'm so thankful it doesn't say
before them. He didn't grow up under the observation
of us. We observed him. We watched him
and we found no beauty about him. before God the Father. While we despised and rejected
him, the Father declared, this is my beloved son in whom I am
well pleased. For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant. not as a great oak tree, not
as a magnificent cedar of Lebanon, but as a tender plant, lowly,
meek, and mild. For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. dry ground,
barren ground, he came to where we are. We are barren and he
came in our likeness. We are of the earth and he made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men. For he shall grow up
before him as a tender plant And as a root out of a dry ground,
he hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him." As that verse comes to a close,
does your heart break with mine? Our mind recalls all those years
we spent wallowing in sin and shame, unbelief. For what I am today when he's
had mercy upon me. Finding no beauty in him who
is now made unto us all together lovely. Verse 3, he is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we
hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we
esteemed him not. None of us, not one of Adam's
children, not one of us in this building is excluded here. He
is despised and rejected of men. We all cried out with our father
Adam, we will not have this man to reign over us. He is a man of sorrows. The sorrows that this man endured,
our sinful minds can't grasp it. We live in some nice houses. Every now and again, we pretend
and we go camping. We're roughing it. We're reminded
of how nice our house is. But this man, this man laid aside
his glory. The ancient of days came and
was an infant. He, the creator, the sovereign
of all things, submitted to the rule of sinful men. He walked, God Almighty, who
hates all workers of iniquity, who is of purer eyes than to
behold evil and canst not look on iniquity, he walked among
us sinners. He is current now. He is despised and
rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. And we hid as it were our faces
from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. The Lord God of eternal glory
came and walked as a creature among his creations. For what
cause? Verse five. But he was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the
chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. Lord Jesus Christ came to us
because peace could not be found. Hold your place here and turn
over to Romans chapter five. Romans 5 verse 12. As by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. Men loved darkness rather than
light. Sin, righteousness. Sin, holiness. Light, dark. Life, death. These are all diametrically opposed
one from another. There can be no peace. Mankind in and of self will not
and cannot bow to God's sovereignty because the carnal mind is enmity
against God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. But our Lord came to abolish
in His flesh the enmity, to break down the wall of partition between
God and men. He came In short, to make peace. The peace was broken, necessitating
redemption by the creature, by us. We broke the peace, not him. As we see back in Isaiah 53 verse
6. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray. We have turned every one to his
own way. And the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. It's glorious thinking of him
coming, that he did come. But how did he come? Was he forced? Was there a law that said you
must go? You know, all of us have been forced to go to or to do something
that it's a responsibility. have to do it. And you go and
you endure it, but everybody knows you're just
enduring it. And then there are those moments
when you've got someone you love who's in a great bind. They need
help. And it's going to be a lot of
work, but you go and you're joyful about your going. You're willing
and going. You have a responsibility. You
love this person, but you're willing and going because you
want to be there. How did our Lord come? He came
willingly for those that he loves. Verse seven, he was oppressed
and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth in
eternity, knowing all that would be required of him, knowing what
he would be required to bear. When the call went out, whom
shall I send and who will go for us? The Lord Jesus Christ
went forth and said, here am I, send me. When they came to
Gethsemane's garden to take him, Lord Jesus Christ went forth
and said, I am. Verse eight, he was taken from
prison and from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? When the false accusations came,
he didn't answer them. He didn't defend himself. It
was to this hour that he had come, that he might make peace
and heal his people. He came willingly, purposefully,
lovingly. He who we read in verse nine
had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth,
was taken by wicked sinful hands and nailed to a cross to shed
his blood. And he laid down his life. We read the wages of sin is death. Death can only be found where
there is sin. So how does our Lord suffer and
die upon that cross? Verse four, surely he hath borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows. As he hung on that cross, we
beheld him in our natural sinful state, and we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Our Lord and our Savior, Christ
Jesus, a man of sorrows, our sorrows, a man acquainted with
grief, our griefs, the man who grew up before God in perfect
righteousness, who alone declared, I do always those things that
please him, this man who knew no sin, who bore our grace, who
carried our sorrows, who was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, endured our stripes, shed his blood. In verse nine, he made his grave
with the wicked. He laid down his life. How? How can it be? that the Son of
God, life himself, died upon a tree. For with God nothing shall be
impossible, not even the salvation of this wretched sinner. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief. Who
bruised him? Soldiers? The government of Rome? Definitely. The religious leaders? The multitude crying out, crucify
him, crucify him. We. me, mankind. We did as we wanted, and we bruised
him. But before we were allowed to
do so, it is the Lord who was pleased to bruise him." Peter
declared, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by Him in the midst
of you, as ye yourselves also know, Him being delivered by
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain. Lord Jesus Christ came
in our likeness, walked in perfect righteousness before God as a
man, took upon himself the sins and griefs of his people, is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, he shed his blood, he laid down
his life, and somewhere somewhere in the midst of all that was
going on upon that cross, He, our Atonement, satisfied the
law, justice, holiness, mercy, and grace on our behalf. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. His precious name is
Lord Jesus Christ. He is the sovereign, divine God,
Jesus, man, Savior, Christ, mediator between God and men. As the high
priest of old, representing the mediator, went into the Holy
of Holies once a year with the blood of the sin offering, Our
high priest, our Lord, entered into the presence of the thrice-holy
God, bearing the blood of the man Jesus, the man without spot
or blemish, the innocent substitute victim, and his sin sacrifice
was accepted. And how a priest, being a type,
being a picture of what Christ would accomplish, once a year
went in and made a sin offering upon the mercy seat. When he went in, the people didn't
know whether atonement had been made for another year or not.
It was only when he came out. When he returned to the people
from within the Holy of Holies, that's when they were shown that
atonement had been made for another year. So our Lord, on the third
day, arose, showing that his sin sacrifice had been fully
accepted. Verse 10 Yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise him, he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make
his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall
prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. Having carried our sins far away,
having covered them with his own blood, he robed us in his
own righteousness. And for Christ's sake we are
accepted in the beloved. He shall see of the travail of
his soul, and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured out his
soul unto death. and he was numbered with the
transgressors, and he bare the sin of many and made intercession
for the transgressors. Having satisfied the law and
the prophets, having fulfilled righteousness, having endured
the cross despising the shame, having accomplished salvation
for his lovingly elected people, the Lord Jesus Christ ascended
back to glory. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. Isaiah 54 verse 1, saying, O
barren, thou that didst not bear. Our Lord declared, come unto
me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Are you burdened? Does the weight
of sin and finding acceptance before God weigh heavily upon
you? Come to Christ Jesus, sue him
for mercy, beg him to cause us to know we are barren before
him. For when he reveals to us that
we are barren before him, he also reveals to us all that he
bore for us. We cannot in this flesh please
God. But thank God the Lord Jesus
Christ pleased him. Listen to what he has borne for
us that we barren before God did not bear. He hath borne our
griefs. He hath carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities. chastisement of our stripes.
The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He bore our
judgment and our death. He bore our grave. In verse 12,
last line, he bared the sin of many and made intercession for
the transgressors. Saying, O barren, For the Lord, your King, your
God, has borne all away. Now unto him that is able to
keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power,
both now and ever. Amen.